


Merula Snyde and the Room of Hidden Things

by AnzuRed



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Video Game: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-21 09:21:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14912699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnzuRed/pseuds/AnzuRed
Summary: Alt. 4th year of Hogwarts Mystery. Mysterious incidents, attacks on professors, and a Player Character trying to find the truth with the help of a certain Slytherin girl, like it or not.





	1. A Peaceful Return

There were, the teenage boy reflected, worse ways to start off your day than riding the Hogwarts Express back to school after an entire summer away. The weather was gorgeous, with sunlight gleaming through the windows, draping the carriage in a comfortable drowsiness, and he hadn’t forgotten any of his luggage at home. A full nights’ sleep, a delicious breakfast, a happy chance meeting with Ben at the station, all check. He would finally be able to practice magic again, and meet up with the rest of his friends. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the grumpy Slytherin girl glaring at him from across the coach, the morning would have been practically perfect.

Ashton Lock sighed, doing his best to ignore the dirty looks the witch had been shooting at him for the last half hour. The pleasant atmosphere of the carriage had long since been dominated by the cold aura his classmate was giving off as she continued to stare at him angrily. Merula Snyde sat, arms crossed, with an impatient expression as if she was waiting for him to make the first move, daring him to say something about her glowering. The book she had been reading lay face down to her right, forgotten the minute he had walked in. In the back of his mind, Ashe wondered to himself if it wasn’t too late to excuse himself from the car and just stand in the hallway for the remainder of the trip instead. That would mean letting _her_ win though, which was an equally unappealing prospect as enduring the awkward air.

As if on cue, his fellow 4th year finally spoke for the first time the entire ride. “What do you want, Lock? Get out of my carriage.”

“Y- what do I want?!” he sputtered. “You’ve been looking at me like I’m loony this whole time! And what do you mean, ‘your’ carriage?” 

Merula gave a catlike hiss before finally averting her gaze, turning her attention to the passing scenery, Hogwarts now just barely visible in the distance.

“Just so you know,” she said. “You’re not beating me to the Vaults ever again. You’re really in for it this year, Snape was furious with you last time.” she added with a smirk.

“You’re still hung up over that?” he groaned. Staying in this compartment had been a mistake. He and Ben had finally come across a room with free seats, and had decided to claim it. Two minutes later, a certain girl, as spaced out as she was nose deep in her magazine, had barged into the carriage and kicked her feet up onto the remaining seats, knocking over Ben’s suitcase in the process. Unfortunately, said girl had turned out to be Merula, to which Ben had paled and run off, mumbling something about going to the bathroom. For his part, Ashe had made the stupid mistake of staying in his seat out of some stubborn sense of pride, something he quickly ended up regretting.

“I can’t wait to see the look on your stupid face when I find everything you and your crazy brother couldn’t.”

“For someone who hates me so much, you sure seem to love talking to me.” Ashe answered dryly. “No one left to talk to after Barnaby left your little group? You should learn to play nice, Merula, maybe you’ll make an actual friend someday.” 

“That idiot was just my pawn.” she snapped. “And I don’t need friends, all I _need_ is to destroy you and uncover the vaults.”

“Right, right, I got it.” he said, rolling his eyes. “And how was your summer, Merula?”

She gave him a withering look before grabbing her book and disappearing once more.

The train rattled on, cutting through the countryside as clouds began to drift over the now-setting sun. Gradually, darkness crept up on the two carriage inhabitants, and a light drizzle began besieging the windows of the carriage. With a yawn, Ashe sat up, preparing for the upcoming departure. Merula had long since abandoned her book, and had been staring out the window at the imposing silhouette of the castle, rapping her fingers against the glass at a dull tempo as an increasingly glazed expression overtook her features.

“A word of advice, Lock,” the girl suddenly said. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop snooping around this year. Things are going to be changing at Hogwarts, and it’d be a shame if you died before I can rub it in your face.”

“Scared of a little competition?”

“In your dreams.” With a final sneer, Merula rose from her seat as the train finally slowed to a halt, grabbing her luggage and leaving Ashe alone in the carriage. Deciding to wait a moment for the usual departure rush to thin out, the boy slowly gathered the rest of his bags, giving a final once over to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind, the unpleasantness of his rival already forgotten. He glanced at the floor beneath the seats and turned to leave, only to do a double take. 

Sitting under where Merula had been sitting, barely visible in the dim light of the compartment, was a scrap of paper. Frowning, Ashe bent down to pick it up and bring it up to the lamp, only to freeze up before quickly turning the paper up, around, every possible way to look for some hidden message he hoped would be there. The paper looked like it had been torn from a regular notebook, and was on one side covered with the incoherent scribbling and sketches of someone who’d clearly gone mad. What looked like tiny, sword-wielding men filled every corner of the page, alongside a number of ink blotches, as if someone had grabbed a quill as they would a knife and just slashed across the paper. It was disturbing, but Ashe could have convinced himself it was just a random child’s drawing that had made its way here somehow; that is, if it wasn’t for the other side of the note. There, clean handwriting, perfectly straight despite the lack of lines, rested calmly on the page, with no sign of the crazed doodles from before.

 

_Everything is beginning to come together. The Cursed Ice was only the start, and it has become clear to me that Hogwarts is doomed if Dumbledore continues to do nothing. The girl is the poison, and I have to stop her from finding the other Vaults. No matter what the cost. I’m confident that the next is somewhere in the library, and I will go there tonight to confirm if his advice is true._

_To whoever finds this note, by the time you read this, I will most likely already be dead. That_ _woman will definitely find a way to get rid of me. Though who knows if you’ll find my corpse._

_  
If you’re reading this, my only wish is for you to uncover the truth. Expose it, and save Hogwarts._

_Jacob L._

Ashe swallowed, vaguely realizing his throat had gone dry. Jacob. Why was a letter from his brother here of all places? And under where Merula had been sitting? Had she dropped it? Why had she even had it? And if that was true, what else did she know about Jacob’s disappearance?

 _Calm down,_ the rational side of his mind reminded him, as he slowly stood and shuffled out of the carriage into the nearly empty corridor. _Just because she happened to be near it doesn’t mean she knows anything else_. But doubts continued pressing in on Ashe as he made his way to the platform, where the cool air and welcoming scent of the lake provided a welcome reprieve from his thoughts.  Off to the side, he could see Hagrid leading the first years to the boats that would take them under the castle, which was now clear to the eye, a great bulky collection of towers, some windows leaking light and giving Hogwarts an even more formidable appearance. Smiling faintly as he passed by the clearly nervous first years, he nodded at the half-giant, who beamed and waved at him in recognition, before continuing on towards the coaches that would take him to the castle, watching for any of his friends in the meantime. As he pushed past a few third year Hufflepuffs, a tap on his shoulder and a familiar voice saying his name made him turn to their blonde owner with a grin.

“How was your summer, Ashe?” Penny smiled, her large blue eyes holding undisguised happiness as the two friends met, though he knew better than anyone the mischief that could show itself in the girl.

“I’ve been alright, nothing special,” he said, pushing the question of the mysterious note out of his head for now. “How about you?”

“Nothing to speak about,” Penny shrugged. “Well, it was better than last year at least…” she trailed off, grimacing slightly before snapping out of it with a quick laugh, not entirely naturally, Ashe quietly noticed. “But you can’t really get worse than that, huh? Anyway, are we still going to look for _those_ this year too?” she asked eagerly, dropping into a whisper by the end.

He hesitated before nodding in affirmation. “Of course we are. I need to find out what happened to my brother.” The memory of Dumbledore’s warnings from the end of last year rested uncomfortably in the back of his mind, the headmaster’s surprisingly stern lecture still weighing on him. Being expelled was starting to look like a real possibility.

“Excellent.” she grinned. “You know, I learned how to brew some interesting potions over the summer. Promise to bring me along and I’ll make you some useful ones.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm. So there’s the Calming Draught, Exploding Potion, Herbicide Potion, ooh, and one that makes you invisible for a while, I think that one will be really useful to stop you from getting in trouble this year…pity invisibility cloaks are so expensive…”

As the pair made their way to the carriages, Ben, accompanied by a familiar, hulking boy, burst from the crowd, bags in hand. Barnaby raised a shoulder in greeting and mumbled something unintelligible through what looked like a full gourd of cheese in his mouth. Ashe decided not to ask.

“Been all right, Barnaby?” he asked his fellow Slytherin. Penny raised a questioning eyebrow at Ben, who only shrugged in response. Pushing past the crowd, the group of friends finally reached one of the empty coaches. Ahead of them, Merula, who had apparently found Ismelda, seemed to be yelling at some terrified second years for some reason. Noticing Ashe’s gaze, she flicked a V sign towards him before jumping into her carriage.

“She doesn’t seem very happy to see you.” Penny observed.

“Like I care. What’s she going to do, tell on me to Snape again?”

“Mmmphmph.”

“What if she tries to do something…worse though?” Ben whimpered. “I heard that Merula is planning to attack Hogwarts and kill Dumbledore, and that she actually has a bunch o-“

“Yeah, yeah, werewolves, right?” Penny sighed. “Come on, let’s get in. The feast can’t come any sooner.”

“Actually, it was vampires…”

Climbing in, the quartet sat back and idly chattered as they rode to the castle. Soon enough, the bumping and rattling of the carriage transitioned to a smooth ride, the paved road to the school coming with the familiar sight of the numerous gargoyles and ancient ruins that decorated the grounds. As they came to a halt before the great stone steps leading into Hogwarts, Ashe unwittingly felt himself grin as the cool night breeze was replaced by the warmth emanating from the Great Hall, ready to welcome back the students and staff.

Entering the hall, the two Slytherins bid farewell to Penny and Ben as they approached the House tables, already packed with students. Magical candles drifted lazily over the students, shining against the enchanted ceiling, which was reflecting the star filled sky they had just seen outside. Friends shouted greetings to each other across the room, with loud conversations about how each other’s summers had gone filling the air. Ashe and Barnaby moved to find seats together, and were quickly greeted by Rowan, who yelped at the sight of them and excitedly gestured to the empty seats beside him. As the darker boy began happily jabbering away at the pair, Ashe leaned back to stretch before grabbing a piece of shepherd’s pie and listening to Rowan’s stories with full attention.

He was home.


	2. Rowan's Woes

As the students finished off the remainder of dessert, Dumbledore rose to his feet and made his way to the podium, followed by the auburn haired woman who had been talking with. The lighthearted chitchat filling the air of the Great Hall was immediately replaced by a solemn silence, as all eyes turned to the Headmaster and his mysterious guest.

“To our new students, welcome! To our old students, welcome back!” Dumbledore announced cheerfully. “Now before we all find comfort in our beds, I must ask that you offer me your undivided attention for a few more minutes.”

“An important part of your magical education is learning to identiy and overcome danger in its many forms. Those of you who have been with us these last few years may have already encountered cursed ice and Boggarts.” The wizened wizard stopped smiling, an elusive twinkle entering his eye. Despite the fires lighting the room above, Ashe felt himself shiver as a strange chill swept across the room. “Despite my warnings, a handful of you have disobeyed me, and managed to enter and survive the Cursed Vaults. 

“The truth is that while we are your instructors, and it is our duty to keep you safe, we do not have every answer. We do not know where the next Cursed Vault lies, what it contains, or what curse will be unleashed by those foolish enough to disturb it.” he paused. “That is why I sought out an expert. A renowned Curse Breaker who has firsthand experience with the Cursed Vaults. Might I introduce Patricia Rakepick?” 

The woman in question swaggered up to the stand, gazing out over the crowd as if she were staring at an audience of flobberworms. From the middle of the Slytherin table, Ashe could see her head slowly swivel across the Hall, taking in her surroundings. As she looked past where he and Rowan were sitting, however, her head suddenly jerk back, staring right towards where he was sitting. 

He blinked in surprise, only to see that Madam Rakepick had already turned away. Looking to Rowan, he opened his mouth to ask about it, but the mutual look of confusion on his face told him that he hadn’t been imagining things. The two exchanged meaningful glances before turning their attention back to the podium, where the Curse Breaker had begun to speak.

“Well, thank you for that glowing introduction, Professor Dumbledore.” Rakepick said with what was evidently supposed to be a smile, though it looked more as if she had just been forced to swallow a Lemon Drop. “I was honestly shocked when he invited me back considering all of the trouble I caused him as a student.” She paused for a moment before shrugging and continuing. Too late, Ashe realized it had been a joke. “After graduating from Hogwarts, I became the Head Curse Breaker at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. As a student, I was convinced that the Cursed Vaults existed, but the faculty chose to ignore my warnings.” 

“Now that they’ve finally been forced to admit their mistake, I’ve returned to open the Vaults and reveal their secrets. I may ask some of you to describe what you’ve witnessed. I may even ask some of you to help with my investigations. But I will not tolerate your unsolicited interference. From this point on, you will _stay away from the vaults_ , and _stay out of my way_.” With a look of smug satisfaction, she turned and marched to her seat at the staff table without another word.

Murmurs flew amongst the crowd, and Ashe was uncomfortably aware of a number of students watching him curiously. News of he and his friends’ exploits last year, no doubt thanks to a certain redheaded Ravenclaw, had leaked almost immediately, and clearly the interest in the resident curse breakers hadn’t completely faded over the summer. Down at the end of the table, he could see Merula glaring at Rakepick, and talking furiously to Ismelda in hushed tones, obviously unhappy about yet another annoyance to hinder her own goals. Inwardly, he wondered if Dumbledore hadn’t really just fueled the flames by accident instead; all around him, students of all years were sharing rumors they’d heard about the Vaults, what treasures lay in them, and where the next one was. Amongst the staff, Professor McGonagall was wearing a light frown as she whispered something to Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher, while Snape regarded Rakepick out of the side of his eye as if he were looking at a particularly nasty bout of spattergroit. For her part, Rakepick herself seemed indifferent to her unwelcome welcome, and happily took a long draught of what looked like firewhisky, comfortably settling into her seat.

Dumbledore coughed, and the Great Hall immediately fell into silence once again.  

“Once again, I must urge you. _Do not_ seek out the Cursed Vaults. Each of us at Hogwarts will do all we can do ensure the castle remains safe, but any who try to unwisely meddle with ancient curses does nothing but put us all at risk. Severe punishments will be set for any who choose to go on despite my words. No matter how irritating these circumstances may seem, remember that these measures are for your own safety, and nothing else.” 

The Headmaster’s eyes watched over the students for a second, as if confirming they had really understood, before his firm expression slowly cracked into a smile.

“But now, it’s late, and I’m sure all of you are craving the warmth of your blankets. Lessons start tomorrow, and you all need proper rest. To bed!”

Having said that, Dumbledore turned and began talking to McGonagall and Snape, both of whom looked apprehensive about something. The usual scrapes of bench against floor filled the hall as the students all rose, filing out of the Great Hall. Ashe hung back, letting the rest of the students to pass him, and considered tripping Merula as she walked by before deciding against it and looking to Rowan. Barnaby had already gone ahead with the rest of the crowd, cheese wheel still in mouth. 

“What are you going to do?” Rowan asked. Obvious worry clouded his face as he nervously glanced back towards the conversing adults. “With what Professor Dumbledore said and that new Curse Breaker woman and all.” 

“What else is there to do? I’m finding my brother; no matter what anyone says. We risked our lives to get into those Vaults, after all.” Ashe shrugged, trying to look more confident than he felt. Subconsciously, he patted the pocket holding the note he had found in the Vault of Fear last year, which seemed to show the Forbidden Forest. Rowan only raised an eyebrow.

“Professor Dumbledore reckons we might set off an even _worse_ curse if we keep-“

“I know, Rowan. I’m not stupid enough to try and set it off myself.” he said, gritting his teeth a bit. “But even if I don’t, someone’s been doing it already, and they’re going to try again, plus Merula’s going for them too. I don’t plan on setting off any more cursed ice, or Boggarts, or whatever. But I don’t want to just give up and sit back, even if it means getting e-expelled.” 

“Well said,” came Penny’s voice from behind them as she sidled up to the pair, greeting Rowan with a smile. “But Rowan’s not really wrong either. I think this time, you’ll need to really think about what you plan to do. Dumbledore seemed really serious.”

“Exactly!” the darker boy chimed in. “You’re already on the verge of expulsion! Don’t you think it might be more tactical to just hold on for a while? Focus on school and let Madam Rakepick try and break the curse?”

“Don’t try and talk me out of it. And aren’t you the one always helping me break the rules in the first place?” Ashe said spitefully. Annoyed, he stood and started towards the double doors, now crowdless, that led out of the Great Hall. “Just because you don’t have a lost sibling doesn’t mean I’m giving up on mine.”

“Come on, don’t get like that.” Penny sighed. “We both just want what’s best for you, which includes not getting kicked out of Hogwarts.” 

“You don’t understand.”

“Maybe I don’t, but I think _he_ does.” she replied quietly. Ashe turned curiously, but before he could ask what she meant, Rowan spoke up.

“The point is that we’re trying to look out for you, just like you’ve been looking out for us.” a pause. “But if you’re not going to give up on the Vaults, at least tell us whatever you come across so we can come up with a plan that doesn’t lead to anyone getting expelled.” 

“…sorry, run that by me again?”

“What, you thought we’d let you run off by yourself to get yourself killed?” Penny asked with a pout.

“Look, the two of you…” Ashe paused, unsure of how exactly to continue. “…I’ve been thinking it for a while, but you don’t need to help me anymore this year. My brother is my problem. I don’t want to see anyone else get kicked out of Hogwarts because of me. Penny, I know you’re wicked with useful potions, but just teaching me how to make them is enough. And Rowan, you almost died twice in the ice Vault! And I know neither of you were there last time, but the You-Know-Who boggarts in the library, they were serious about doing us in. We’ve been fine up until now, but if things start to get even more dangerous, I’m the only one who should get hurt. So… yeah.” he finished lamely.

Penny stifled a giggle. “Is that all?” 

“What do you mean ‘Is that a-‘” he started indignantly.

“I figured you’d say something like eventually. Look Ashe, don’t be daft. You helped me when I needed it last year, and I’m not going to leave a friend alone when they need it.” 

“But-“

“I’m with her.” Rowan said, suddenly sounding much less uncertain than before. “You’re my best friend. I don’t want to be expelled, but…” he took a deep breath. “Hogwarts wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t do anything now.”

“Besides, breaking the rules is pretty exciting on its own, isn’t it?” Penny said cheerfully.

Ashe could do nothing but stare at the two before him. “You guys…”

“You won’t be able to get rid of us just like that. If it bothers you that much, think of it like, we’re not doing this for you, but so we don’t feel bad about it after.”

“Are you sure you two belong in Slytherin? I thought those guys were all about using everyone else for their own ends, not caring about them.” Penny mused out loud.

Another moment of silence. Then, slowly, the peal of laughter filled the hall they were in as Ashe held up his hands in surrender.

“Alright, alright, you win. I can’t stop you from helping me out if you really want to.” he said with a grin. “Only on one condition though. I’m taking the blame if Dumbledore really _does_ try to give the boot to either of you.” 

“I don’t know if I like that we keep coming back to this subject.” Rowan mumbled as he twiddled his fingers.

“I think you have enough problems with Merula trying to get you kicked out without taking on our problems as well.” Penny frowned. “Speaking of which, I’d watch your butterbeer around her, Ashe. I overheard her ordering that mopey looking girl to sneak some mistletoe berries from Snape’s stash when she got the chance.”

“If she does manage to poison me, I’m trusting you to kill her back for me then.” he answered dryly. “Assuming I don’t shove the drink down her throat first.”

Soon enough, the trio reached a set of stairs that Ashe knew led to the Hufflepuff Common Room. Bidding goodnight to Penny, the two Slytherins carried on down a particularly long hallway towards the Slytherin Dungeon, Rowan relaying his unfortunate experience on the Hogwarts Express with an especially mouthy Gryffindor who had, at one point, accidentally set the cabin on fire while trying to impress a fifth year Ravenclaw girl.

“…and then the Trolley Witch, you know the one who sells sweets? She just extinguished the whole carriage without saying anything, and without using her wand! Then she just stood there and stared at us, but it was like I couldn’t move, like she would turn her arm into a knife and cut me there if I moved.” Rowan shivered. “I don’t believe she’s a normal witch. I can’t believe it. That Connor guy as well, he looked as if he wanted to crawl under the seat.”

“Oh right, speaking of which…” Ashe said, remembering the strange note he had found on the train. Quickly, he relayed the events of his own journey to his friend, and pulled out the sketch covered paper. Rowan stared at the page with a frown, carefully reading over the mysterious message inscribed. Finally, he looked up.

“What do you make of it?” Ashe asked.

Rowan sighed, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his shirt before answering. “It doesn’t look good. By the sound of it, Jacob might already be…”

“Right, I figured that much out for myself, funnily enough. What about the rest?” 

“Well. It seems like there was definitely someone else involved in the Vaults.” he said, peering at the letter again. “Your brother seemed very sure that someone, a woman, was going to try and kill him.” A look of realization flashed onto his face, and he quickly looked up. “Hang on… when we went into the Vault at the end of our second year, after beating that ice knight, didn’t you say you heard your brother’s voice?”

“Well yeah, but what does that-” Ashe cut himself short as he too made the connection. “That’s right! Back then, Jacob, he said something about how I couldn’t let ‘her’ get into the other Vaults! So you’re saying…”

“I can’t say for sure,” Rowan admitted. “But it now appears that there’s certainly a possibility of foul play.”

“But I heard his voice. I know I did.” Ashe said impatiently. “So Jacob must still be alive, right? This woman, whoever it was, just trapped him somewhere in the school.”

Rowan stroked his chin thoughtfully, but seemed reluctant to answer. “Well, maybe… we need to find more clues before jumping to any conclusion. But with this, there are a few things we can figure out. First, this woman was at Hogwarts at the same time as your brother.”

“Right. And?” 

“Well,” his expression darkened. “Whoever is trying to open the Vaults now…don’t you think it’s pretty likely they’re the same person as last time? Because, the cursed ice only reappeared the same year you, Jacob’s brother, entered the school. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence. Someone who can be at Hogwarts while Jacob was attending and someone who can be here now without attracting suspicion. The number of people that narrows it down to isn’t very much at all.”

Ashe stared at him, the understanding of what the boy was trying to get at slowly dawning on him. “Are you saying that a teacher might be behind all of this?” 

“I don’t want to assume anything,” Rowan said hastily, shaking his head. “For all we know, it could be two different people entirely. But I wanted to point out that the possibility exists.”

Silence fell between the two as they processed the conversation. Ashe suddenly felt very, very vulnerable in the empty hallway, which somehow seemed twice as big as a minute ago. Without thinking, he looked back over his shoulder, half expecting to some masked figure, wand raised at him and Rowan, but only a solitary suit of armor stood against the wall behind them. Suppressing the newfound chill on his back, he turned back to Rowan, the two now walking a bit faster towards the Slytherin Dungeon. 

“Alright. Yeah. That makes sense. What do you think about the scribbles on the other side then?” Ashe asked, more to break the silence than for any hope of a real answer. Unsurprisingly, Rowan only shrugged as he glanced over the ink splattered over the page.

“I’m afraid I have no idea. I was thinking these drawings looked like giraffes, but I can’t think of what that could mean.”

“Giraffes? Seriously?” Ashe laughed. A grin and slight flush spread across Rowan’s face as his friend began to question very seriously whether he hadn’t brought the wrong pair of glasses with him by mistake.

_Clang._

Ashe whipped around instantly, wand already drawn, and saw Rowan do likewise out of the corner of his eye. He opened his mouth, ready to Disarm the source of the sound, only to cut short mid-spell. The hallway was just as empty as it had been a minute ago.

“Who’s there?” he yelled. As expected though, there was no reply. Nervously, he exchanged glances with Rowan, almost laughing at the boy’s eyeballs practically bulging out of his glasses, had it not been that he probably felt just as Rowan looked.

Had he just imagined the noise? But no, Rowan had clearly also heard it. But then what had it been?

Slowly lowering his wand, Ashe muttered to Rowan, “Let’s go,” and the two launched into a full sprint all the way back to the Common Room entrance.

“P-phoenix feathers!” Rowan gasped, almost falling as the stone wall he had been leaning against slid to the side to reveal a hidden door. Checking behind him one last time, Ashe listened carefully for the sound of anyone or anything ready to attack. Nothing.

An air of relief fell around the two boys as they made their way through the safety of the Common Room, where a number of students had elected to break out a stash of sweets in a small party instead of going to bed. As they passed the fireplace, Merula, who had been sitting in one of the armchairs tinkering with some vials of unknown liquids, stuck her tongue out at them, but looked positively steamed as Ashe walked by without a second glance. The sight of the bully did, however, remind him of one last concern.

“Rowan.” he whispered as the two started up the stairs leading up to the boy’s dorm, looking back to make sure the girl in question hadn’t tried following them. “I forgot to mention, but that note. I found it under Merula’s seat on the train. Do you think, maybe…? I mean, she’s an arse, but…”

Rowan’s gaze turned to the now out of sight Common Room, apparently thinking carefully. After a moment’s pause he turned back to his friend, snakelike caution clear in his eyes.

“What I think, is that we stay on our guard from now on. And don’t trust anyone you can’t believe 100%.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't into dialogue. Or pacing. Or properly writing characters in character.
> 
> I feel like this might be starting a bit slower than I thought, but I'm hoping the planned payoff will make up for it. Any criticism is super welcome.


	3. Unhappy Reunions

The first day back to classes was marked by continuous claps of thunder and the ferocious storm that accompanied them. Ash grey clouds had covered the ceiling of the Great Hall, occasional crackles of lightning frightening the odd owl, and the end result was the gloomiest breakfast Hogwarts had seen in a good few months. _Fitting,_ Ashe thought to himself as he stared at this year’s new schedule, where a fat block of Double Potions marked in blackest ink had been set as his first class. Somehow, the thought of seeing Snape for two hours first thing on Monday morning hadn’t done much to stave off the dreariness produced by the torrent coming down on Hogwarts, a sentiment that seemed to be shared among his classmates, judging by the grumbling of Ismelda and one of her classmates (Was her name Janice?) a few seats down.

“I’ve said it already, but he’s really not that bad, you know.” Penny said through a mouth of buttered toast. “If you’re following the instructions correctly, he won’t pick on you.”

“Yeah, I’m sure if my cauldron didn’t keep blowing up, we’d be best friends. Five times now already, I wonder why that keeps happening?” Glancing up towards where Ismelda was sitting, he allowed himself a small smile upon the confirmation that the real cause of his vexation was nowhere in sight, and would hopefully stay that way. At the very least, no one had tried to slip anything into his drink yet. Following his gaze, Penny frowned, seemingly lost in thought as she stared at the empty seat by the scarf wearing girl.

“At least Potions is safe,” Ben mumbled, eyeing his own schedule with discomfort. “I’ve got Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and…” he shuddered. “… _Divination,_ all today.”

“What’s so scary about Divination?”

“How could it not be? What if I foresee my own death?! The only thing worse than not knowing if something dangerous will happen is knowing that something dangerous is going to happen, and last year, the teacher already predicted that I was going to die! I’m probably going to get strangled by Devil’s Snare or something in Herbology…maybe I should just skip it today…”

“Don’t bother, class is canceled anyway.” At the sound of the new voice, Ashe looked up to see Bill collapse onto the seat across from him, completely drenched and covered in mud. From the look of it, he wasn’t alone either, as a steady stream of equally filthy Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs seemed to be dragging themselves into the Great Hall, earning some loud jeers and laughs from the Slytherin table.

“I was just there.” he responded to the unspoken question written on their faces. “Professor Sprout’s closing the greenhouses until this storm blows over. Greenhouse 3 somehow had a hole opened up in the wall overnight, so everything needs to be recovered before we can do any lessons.”

“It’s good to see you, Bill.” Ashe grinned at the older boy, who shot back a tired small. Penny remained silent, looking slightly disgruntled as she stared at her remaining toast, onto which flecks of mud had splattered.

“Do you know if any of these other classes are nixed?” Ben asked hopefully, reluctantly throwing his notes into his bag. The prefect glanced at the schedule before giving the younger Gryffindor a comforting clap on his shoulder and shaking his head sadly.

“You think he’ll ever become a little, well, braver?” Penny pondered as the trio watched Ben’s dejected form slowly shuffle to class. “I would have thought it’d be a little better by now, but he seems the same.”

“Maybe we should take him with us on our next Vault adventure, huh?” joked Bill. “And speaking of that, Ashe, Rowan told me that you found a clue on where to go next?”

“I don’t know if I can even call it that. It’s more like a dying message than anything. Not really much of a hint of anything.”

“Be that as it may, would you care to share, Mr. Lock?” Penny and Bill both jumped, but their reaction was tame compared to the boy in question, who had leapt out of his seat, hand already halfway to his wand, only to freeze as he met eyes with the scarlet robed woman facing them.

“Madam Rakepick.” The new arrival merely raised an eyebrow, not having even flinched despite Ashe’s sudden movement.

“Sit down, you silly child. Or maybe attention is what you wanted?” Too late, he realized that the disturbance had drawn no small amount of attention, with several curious onlookers starting to turn towards them. Scowling, he stashed his wand back in his robes, taking his seat and trying to ignore the growing heat in his cheeks.

“Better. Now, I’m going to have to ask you to hand over that message you were talking about.”

“What?! Why?” he demanded, jerking around to face the woman. Rakepick just stared back coldly.

“As I mentioned last night, this is my castle now, Mr. Lock. My hunting grounds. I won’t have you and your friends interfering with my work, and I don’t recall asking for your assistance. The Cursed Vaults are for me to uncover, and for you to leave be.”

“I don’t think Dumbledore would like you talking about his school like that. _Madam_.”

“Ah yes. Dumbledore.” a hint of a smile inched onto Rakepick’s face. “He’s told me about all you’ve done for the school. Getting rid of the cursed ice, dealing with those boggarts, and especially how you’ve been sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”  
“And?”

Ashe winced, for suddenly Rakepick’s face was practically centimeters from his own. “You might think you’re being a hero, Mr. Lock, but the way I see it? Your snooping around is doing a lot more to unleash these curses than you think they are. Your brother thought the same way. Now, give me what hints you’ve found.”

“I don’t have it anymore.” he said automatically.

Silence fell amongst the table, Penny and Bill watching helplessly as the feuding pair glared at each other. Finally, the spell broke as Rakepick raised her voice.

“Very well. I doubt I’d find anything on you even I searched you now. But in the future, you _will_ immediately report to me whenever you – any of you – find something out of place. Have I made myself clear?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned, making her way to the exit of the Great Hall.

“Ashe, what was that about?” Penny hissed as they watched Rakepick leave.

“What? She was practically telling me to go f- ”

“I’m talking about when she first turned up behind us! Most people don’t try to attack the first person to come up behind them like that!”

“Oh.” Ashe grimaced and lowered his voice. “I haven’t told you two yet. Last night, Rowan and I…”

He quickly relayed the events of the previous night to the other two, telling them what they had reasoned, and about the strange noise they hadn’t been able to find a source of. When he had finished, Bill leaned back in his seat, clearly deep in thought.

“So you’re thinking it’s possible that one of the staff could be responsible for opening the Vaults.”

“Or even Rakepick.” he nodded towards the door she had left through. “The black quill from the Gryffindor Common Room, it was signed by ‘R’.”

“’R’ doesn’t have to be a name though… maybe it stands for ‘rodent’ and there’s a rat Animagus sneaking around the school…” Penny mused. Bill merely shook his head.

“I think you might be overthinking some things, Ashe. Rakepick was at Castlebruxo all of last year. Dumbledore spent the whole year trying to find her. Maybe she was involved with your brother somehow, but there’s no way she could have set off the Vault of Ice from there.”

“She could have had a partner then. Or just Apparated here and bac-”

“I’m not going to say the first option is impossible, but the second is. Intercontinental Apparation isn’t easy, and Hogwarts has anti-Apparation barriers all around.” he paused. “Look, all I’m saying is that it might be better to just wait and see for a little while. If you convince yourself that she’s your target, your view of things is going to get messed up.”

“…you’re sounding a whole lot more reasonable than last year, aren’t you?” Ashe said stubbornly. Bill flashed him a toothy grin.

“I’m a prefect after all, I’m supposed to watch over you guys and step up my game a little.”

“And you want to become Head Boy.” Penny said under her breath, just loud enough for the other two to hear.

Ashe’s concerns continued to fill his mind as he bid farewell to the others and made his way down to the dungeons and into the Potions classroom. Rowan was already inside, barely visible from behind the stack of library books and scrolls he had already gathered and looking unusually excited. Unfortunately, his other neighbor was there too.

“It’d be a shame if you caught fire your first day back, Lock.”

“Good morning to you too, Merula.” he answered dryly.

“No, really. All kinds of bad things can happen around an open flame, and it’d be real trouble for you if your cauldron broke again, wouldn't it?”

“Mess with me again and I’ll jinx the hair off your head. God knows it’d be an improvement.”

“Laugh while you can, Lo- Shut up Khanna!” she growled. “Laugh while you can, Lock. While you’ve been playing around with that snooty Curse Breaker, I’ve already got a lead on the next Vault.” She narrowed her eyes. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep away from them this year. From the way he put it, Dumbledore isn’t happy with you.”

“I thought me getting expelled was what you _wanted_.” he pointed out, examining his fingernails before the full impact of her words hit. “Hang on, what do you mean you found a lead? Where and what? Tell me!”

“Not telling.” she said smugly. “Why should I?”

“Merula, you – !”

As he began to speak, the classroom door flew open, and Snape stepped inside, greasy features and sunken face as morbid as ever in the sickly green light of the dungeons. Ashe forced himself to bite his tongue as silence instantly fell over the assembled. With a flick of his wand, the door slammed shut, and a collection of ingredients materialized at the front desk.

“Today,” Snape began, “We will be mixing a potion that, as moronic as some of you may be, ought to be simple enough for even the dullest among you to achieve an acceptable result. Perhaps it will even get some among you to rethink your more foolhardy decisions before acting on them, doubtful as it seems.”

Ashe became distinctly aware of Snape’s gaze resting on him. The Potions Master sneered before flicking his wand once more, causing a set of instructions to appear on the blackboard.

“The Wit-Sharpening Potion does as the name suggests. The method has been written on the blackboard, and any extra information for those who need it can be found on page 394. You have until the end of class. … Begin.”

Soon enough, the dungeon room was rank with the scent of armadillo bile and crushed scarabs. Surprisingly, as Snape had said, the brew didn’t seem especially difficult to mix, which gave Ashe more than ample opportunity to sneak looks at Merula. who was smashing her beetles with gutso. Noticing his glances, she stopped for a minute to point at his face, then at the powdered bugs before blowing a raspberry at him. Ashe rolled his eyes and turned back to Rowan, determined to ignore her. Evidently, Merula didn’t have any further interest in continuing their previous conversation, and he wouldn’t be able to force it out of her with Snape hovering around. With a muttered _Incendio!_ he set his cauldron alight, preparing to let the mixture simmer.

The rest of the period progressed fairly uneventfully, save Billingsley’s cauldron imploding as Snape was peering inside of it, the end result being a healthy 20 points being deducted from Hufflepuff. As the end of class approached though, the sleepy air of the room, thanks to the warm fumes of all the boiling potions, was suddenly torn apart by a resounding _BOOM_ from outside the classroom, followed by shrill screaming. Grabbing Rowan, who had almost fallen back off of his chair, Ashe watched as Snape rushed forward, yanking open the door with wand at the ready and half the class behind him. In the hallway, streaks of light were dancing through the air, bouncing off the walls while making a high pitched maniacal giggling sound, and seemingly forming a pseudo-cage of sparks around a panicking Ravenclaw girl. On the floor, the remains of what appeared to be a large split shell were still smoldering.

Snape waved his wand, Vanishing the storm of lights in an instant, and glanced over at the stunned Ravenclaw.

“Back to class, Jones. If you’re well enough to stand, you can take yourself out of my sight.” he snapped. The girl – a first or second year from the looks of it – squeaked and ran off. Snape turned his attention to the frame on the floor, and slowly stepped forward to pick it up. On closer inspection, Ashe realized that it wasn’t a shell, but rather, the remaining half of a huge, used firework.

The students, who had all come out into the hall at the disruption, stood with bated breath as the Potions Master swiveled around, nearly crushing the still-smoking rocket in his hand as he scanned the crowd with narrowed eyes.

“If any of you know anything about this, or know who is responsible, you will speak up. _Now_.” Though he spoke calmly, Ashe was reminded uncomfortably of the chill of the Vault of Ice as Snape’s glare pierced through all those present. An unpleasant silence, just as had happened with Rakepick a mere few hours ago, permeated the air.

“No one? Very well. But know that, if I discover that any of you (once again, Snape rested his glare on Ashe), had anything to do with this disruption, the consequences will be … _severe_. Clean your stations, put a labelled sample of your work on my desk, and get out.”

All too happy to oblige, the class rushed back into the room, a frantic rush to stuff belongings back into bags beginning as students escaped. Ashe rejoined Rowan at their table, and having finished up, prepared to leave, but noticed that Merula had barely started putting away her things. Tapping his friend on the shoulder, he pointed towards the strangely bulging skirt on the witch, and stepped forward to talk to her.

“Looking a little fatter than I remember you, Merula. Now, what’s in your pocket?”

“Nothing, moron, and if I did have anything, it wouldn’t be any of your business, would it?” she answered cooly, refusing even to look him in the eye. Or perhaps just avoiding him.

“Maybe not, but you know what is? My brother. Earlier you said you had found a lead for the next Vault. Where is it? Tell me, or I’ll tell Snape you’ve been nicking his ingredients.” he smiled inwardly as Merula began sputtering, a fierce red flush erupting across her features at his words. “I didn’t see you in the hall just now, Snyde. That poor Gryffindor girl was scared out of her mind. You couldn’t have used a weaker firecracker?”

“W-well – I – It’s…she deserved that! I didn’t do it, but she probably did! And are your eyes going as bad as your brain? Of course I was there.”

“I wouldn’t bother with filth like him.” said Ismelda as she crept out from behind the desk. “Blood traitors like him, and everyone against the Dark Lord, they’ll all pay when we bring him back with the Vaults. The Vaults that _we_ know all about, unlike him.” She laughed monotonously to herself as Ashe and an apparently equally uncomfortable Merula stared at her, only to be cut off by Rowan, who slammed his copy of _Monsters of the Himalayas_ on the desk hard enough to surprise the other three.

“You can laugh now, but we already have more to go off than you two do! Ashe will find the next Vault before you, Merula! You haven’t even beaten him once yet anyway!”

The final statement seemed to do the trick, for both Merula and Ismelda plunged their hands into their robes, Ashe and Rowan following suit, only for an awful, single cough to stop them mid-motion.

“As much as I cannot get across just how much I don’t want to see you miserable lot outside of class,” Snape began, “it appears I have to reiterate it once again. Get. Out. _Now._ ”

Quietly, the four students separated and gathered the rest of their things, Rowan and Ismelda glaring daggers at each other the entire time. As they entered the hallway, the classroom door slammed shut behind them. Merula and Ismelda shot their fellow Slytherins one final glance, before walking towards the direction of the Common Room.

“Hey Merula!” Ashe called, causing her to turn impatiently. “The girl I mentioned before? She was Hufflepuff, not Gryffindor.”

The girl’s eyes widened momentarily, before devolving into a look of purest distaste. Without another word, she turned tail and marched away, shoving aside an unfortunate younger student turning the corner as she left.

“Why do you reckon she’s stealing ingredients anyway?”

Rowan shrugged. “I don’t think that’s as big a problem as what she mentioned before that. If she really knows what to do next, we need to find out where she got her new information.”

“Right, I’ll try. In the meantime, can I ask you to start looking into any other rumors that might be floating about? I’ll ask Penny too, anything would help.”

“Of course, leave it to me! I’ll look through the entire library for anything that could be useful!” the darker boy grinned happily.

The two began walking back to the Common Room to relax before Care of Magical Creatures in a few hours. The younger student Merula had pushed over earlier ignored them as they passed, and didn’t even look to be bothered at all by the violent encounter he had just had, oddly enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay to all 0.5 of you who might have been following this. Life things happened.  
> I've tried to take the advice of a friend and 'show more, tell less', but I don't know how successful it really is. Lemme know if you feel some things aren't working, or characterization is off.
> 
> For now, we have a somewhat slow buildup chapter. Next one should hopefully be out sooner, but no one hold me to that.

**Author's Note:**

> Strong criticism appreciated  
> Never really written anything much before and wanted to try my hand at it.


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